"Los Angeles is fucked. Everything is fucked, everything, and really, we all know this."

Those are the opening words of introduction to the exhibition catalogue. The centerpiece of the show is Lost Angeles Kozo, a panoramic series of linocuts depicting LA being destroyed by fires, floods, meteors, earthquakes, etc. There are also quite a few screen prints on the same subject. Each portrays one or more iconic LA buildings being subjugated by the elements (including Disney Hall, pictured below). These are complimented by London Views, a collection of prints that subject the city of London to a similar treatment, and Diamond Heist Bear.

You might recognize London Views from the cover of Thom Yorke's Eraser album. Like many others, I first heard of Donwood from his numerous Radiohead album covers (every album since The Bends). I sometimes wonder if I would have known about him otherwise, but it doesn't really matter. I really like the look of these linoleum prints. They vaguely reminded me of a multitude of other artists I love, like Posada, Peter Kuper, Gorey, or even a little Doré. And I have definitely had similarly magnificent/terrifying visions of the destruction of LA.

Valittuto got to play with all the cool toys, switching from toy piano, melodica, pump organ, chromelodeon, and MIDI keyboard. The show began with Sussurrous (adj.) by Matt Barbier. The piece offered a wonderful Stuart Dempster-esque wash of tones, orbited by a constellation of toy piano notes.

Then came Nick Deyoe'sFLUFF: Nos 1, 7, 8, & 11. In stark contrast to the other two pieces on the first half, FLUFF was a set of refreshingly aggressive bagatelles. It was obvious that these were the right men for the job, as they attacked the piece with the necessary ardent furvor (they even played one piece twice) - and a great excuse to blast away on a melodica!

Klaus Lang'sRote Asche steered the concert back towards the post-Feldman/Oliveros territory of Sussurrous (adj.). With Valitutto switching now to pump organ, I imagined LaMonte Young standing on the beach listening to planes take off overhead.

The second half of the concert was devoted to two pieces by Tasmanian composer Ron Nagorcka. I had never heard Nagorcka's music, and I don't think I've heard any Tasmanian music before at all. I found myself thinking of his music as a spiritual cousin to Conlon Nancarrow or John Luther Adams - an educated composer who decided to take his business elsewhere, like Mexico, Alaska, or Tasmania.

For Song of the Central Tree, Nagorcka joined the ensemble onstage to sing the basso profundo melody (a setting of text by Keith Harrison). The piece had Valitutto triggering audio samples from a MIDI keyboard. Birds, forest ambiance, woody creaking, pitched down spoken recitation of lyrics, and reverb-tinged marimbas all made cameos in this deeply idiosyncratic song while the rest of the ensemble supported Nagorcka's voice in this piece reminiscent of Dane Rudhyar.

With Myriad Degrees of Light-Dark Infusion is an otherworldly chorale, in which Valitutto alternated between chromelodeon (one of two belonging to John Schneider, Microfest impressario) and sampler keyboard, while the rest of the ensemble stirred up a fascinating pot of microtonality to match. I imagined one of the myriad ensembles that inhabit Ives' world of simultaneity, but pared down and playing Ben Johnston for their local New England church.

Gnarwhallaby is an exciting new music ensemble that I look forward to hearing more of. I also plan to spend some time on Ron Nagorka's website, getting to know a bit more about his wonderfully enigmatic compositions.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

It is that time of year when every concert you've been dying to see will happen on the same night at the exact same time. The regular music season is coming to a close, and most musicians are storing up for the dry spell that is summertime. My weekend will be spent playing in Crescent City, but here are some awesome concerts that are all happening this week:

Malabomba at La Cita starts at 9pm! Somehow, I've never been able to actually make it to one of the Malabomba Gypsy music/dance parties. I get excited to go every time, but by some strange fluke I always have a conflict and can't be there... they have a great lineup of bands!

THURSDAY, 05/24

This is the last weekend to see Crescent City! I wrote about it in my last post. The show runs Thursday through Sunday at 8pm every night.

FRIDAY, 05/25

Will Salmon presents a show of improvised music at the Glendale Moose Lodge at 8pm. Insuu Bunkai will perform, as well as a trio of Trevor Andries, Tony Digennaro, and Will Salmon himself. Will has been fostering improvised music and interdisciplinary collaborations for a long time, through Open Gate Theater at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts. He recently started doing shows at the Moose Lodge as well.

SATURDAY, 05/26

Betalevel doesn't seem to put on many concerts these days, but when they do they are always interesting. At 8:30 you'll hear experimental electronic sounds by John Weise, Wyatt Penn Keusch & Scott Kazan, and RALE & Casey Anderson.

Southwest Chamber Music will play the final concert of their LA International New Music Festival. This one features premieres of pieces by Gabriela Ortiz, Tôn Thât Tiêt, Alexandra du Bois, and Vu Nhat Tân

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Gyorgy Ligeti, Perez Prado, Benny Grunch, and Screaming Jay Hawkins walk into a bar, where On The Corner is playing on the jukebox (maybe Bruno Maderna comes along too). Not an exact metaphor for Anne LeBaron'sCrescent City, but it's in the right direction. It's also not what one would expect when describing an opera, but that's what makes it interesting.

I've been looking at various stages of this music for quite a while. Timur & The Dime Museum (in which I write, arrange, and play accordion) has played excerpts at several The Industry fundraisers over the last year. The entire Dime Museum is in the orchestra (I'm playing accordion and chromelodeon), along with about 12 other fantastic musicians. I also helped Anne with some copying and orchestration. I remember seeing/hearing it in it's embryonic state as Wet in 2005 at REDCAT. It must be exciting to hear such a long-term project come together in such a fully realized version as this.

Anne LeBaron coined the term "hyperopera" long before I had met her, and I imagine this production fits squarely in that nebulous genre-space of the new. It is a fun piece to play. A wide collusion of styles, it sways between New Orleans jazz, Euro-centric modernism, Afro-centric drum grooves, industrial-tinged electronica, and more (you can read all about those sorts of things in the reviews, including the LA Times and Out West Arts). As such, the musicians necessary are the sorts that CalArts tends to pop out: people that know their traditional and extended techniques, and feel comfortable playing both written and improvised music.

The orchestra for Crescent City is hidden away in a loft above the stage. If you look above "the swamp" you might see the backside of conductor Marc Lowenstein's giant ictus. It is very hot up there, and I am very glad we aren't doing this in August. My personal nightly highlight comes from getting to play the Chromelodeon, on loan from Partch Ensemble maestro, John Schneider.

From my seat in the attic/pit, I can hardly see anything onstage. As the Chromelodeon is onstage in the "dive bar," I have to go downstairs to play it (it makes a too-brief cameo accompanying Timur Bekbosunov as Deadly Belle). This gives me a very brief chance to cool off and watch a little bit of the action. Since I have hardly SEEN any of the production, I can't make much of an informed comment on Yuval Sharon's stage direction, but the reviews talk about it in detail and the snippets I do manage to see are quite nice. I will say that I was taken aback the first time I entered the warehouse at the scale of the whole production. It feels very epic in there.

Anyway, you should go early and get a bite at Atwater Crossing. The food is fabulous. On opening night (when Timur & The Dime Museumplayed a 30-minute set AFTER playing the opera), the cafe provided a whole buffet of staggering deliciousness. The lamb slider I had that evening really topped the night perfectly, along with the Avery Belgian they had on tap. And during the show, check the texture of Timur Bekbosunov's outfit.

Crescent City runs this weekend and four nights next weekend. Come on down!

And finally, a confession: I am sometimes secretly imagining this song during Gwendolyn Brown's breathtaking solo aria: